R Dardennes1, C Even, F Bange, A Heim. 1. Clinique des maladies mentales et de l'encéphale, Hôpital Sainte Anne, Paris, France.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: This meta-analysis assessed the equipotency of carbamazepine and lithium prophylaxis in bipolar disorder. METHOD: We selected only randomised, double-blind, controlled studies comparing carbamazepine with lithium from a manual and computerised search, and subjected them to a quality inventory. Their statistical results were weighted by their quality score and combined. RESULTS: Four studies met our criteria, yielding, overall, P = 0.15. This result is not straightforward because the studies showed significant heterogeneity (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Differences in statistical power and sensitivity of outcome measure explain this heterogeneity and the conflicting results of the studies. Therefore, the prophylactic efficacy of carbamazepine remains questionable.
BACKGROUND: This meta-analysis assessed the equipotency of carbamazepine and lithium prophylaxis in bipolar disorder. METHOD: We selected only randomised, double-blind, controlled studies comparing carbamazepine with lithium from a manual and computerised search, and subjected them to a quality inventory. Their statistical results were weighted by their quality score and combined. RESULTS: Four studies met our criteria, yielding, overall, P = 0.15. This result is not straightforward because the studies showed significant heterogeneity (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Differences in statistical power and sensitivity of outcome measure explain this heterogeneity and the conflicting results of the studies. Therefore, the prophylactic efficacy of carbamazepine remains questionable.
Authors: Konstantinos N Fountoulakis; Lakshmi Yatham; Heinz Grunze; Eduard Vieta; Allan Young; Pierre Blier; Siegfried Kasper; Hans Jurgen Moeller Journal: Int J Neuropsychopharmacol Date: 2017-02-01 Impact factor: 5.176